Mandated Paid Parental Leave, Too?

Another "needy" group, another government program.

Monmouth University professors Steven Pressman and Robert Scott took this month's occasion of Mothers Day to argue for paid parental leave--financed, of course, not by personal savings, but with another government program.

The article includes this gem:

Decades ago, this was not a major issue. Not many women worked for pay outside the home or family business, especially women with young children. This is no longer the case. Nearly three-quarters of mothers, many with infants, are in the paid labor force. Mothers today are doing double duty.

Basically, there are two reasons for this cultural change.

I left these comments:

How do you get another coercive government program? Identify a need that some people may have, then collectivize it. Speak in terms of the  "we," as if "we" is an entity onto itself, independent of the individuals that make it up.

Mysticism drives the omnipotent welfare state. Take away the mystical "we," which doesn't exist, and think in terms of individuals, who do exist, and you expose the criminal nature of every welfare state program--and cut the welfare statist off at the [intellectual] knees. Who will pay for these benefits? People whose money is seized by the state at gunpoint, and redistributed to others who didn't earn it. Common theft, legalized.

Thanks to mysticism, we have become a nation of collectivist thugs. Every man with another plan turns to government to force it on everyone else. Why not, it's for "us." It's not moral to steal or to use force against others? But morality is for individuals. The collective is the God of the Left. The collective is above morality.

Well, no, it isn't. If it's wrong for an individual to steal or force another, it's just as wrong for that individual if he joins a group; say, an electoral or legislative majority.

Paid leave is a great idea. That's why people should follow the age-old advice of financial planners: build up an emergency nest egg to cover unexpected expenses. Then, when you need some time off, you can "pay yourself" out of your savings.

But, that would require personal responsibility. "We" can't have that. What would the master planners do with themselves.

What a way to honor mothers; call for another expansion of government coercion into our lives.

Related Reading:

Mandated Paid Sick Days, Too?